


“Sorry to be standing so close.”

by LulaIsAKitten



Series: First Kisses [10]
Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 16:04:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14793615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LulaIsAKitten/pseuds/LulaIsAKitten
Summary: Continuing the series of shorts of possible first kisses between these two. Got a few ideas. Feel free to submit prompts for anything you’d like to see in the comments below or over on Tumblr at lulacat3.





	“Sorry to be standing so close.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this originally for the prompt for “I apologise for this in advance” (no 9) but it didn’t fit the prompt as well as I’d have liked so I wrote that one instead. Posting this anyway :)

Robin’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to look at it. It was Strike.

“Are you still tailing Redhead? It’s late.”

She smiled and texted him back. “Yeah. Just watched a dreadful romcom at the cinema from three rows behind her. She rang from the foyer afterwards, meeting someone at Roxy’s so I’ll follow.”

The reply was almost immediate. “Roxy’s is seedy and it’s 10pm! I’m coming too. See you there.”

Robin rolled her eyes fondly. Strike was still a little overprotective of her. But she had to admit, the club Redhead had chosen tonight wasn’t her favourite. She would appreciate her own personal bouncer, having been hit on by a particularly persistent guy last time she tailed Redhead there.

She wandered slowly up the street, well behind the woman they had been tailing for so long now. They had found zero evidence of any affair, but the husband wanted them to continue, and paid well for the long and boring hours. Strike had said more than once that he’d met these kinds of spouses before, who just wanted to know what their other halves were doing at all times.

Roxy’s was several Tube stops from the cinema, and Robin was delighted to see Strike already lingering near the queue for the entrance, smoking. Redhead walked right past him, but as Robin walked up to him, she saw the other woman glance back, looking puzzled. Shit, she thought, has she recognised him? We have been tailing her for ages, albeit subtly. She manoeuvred herself so that Strike’s bulk hid her as she approached him. She could see that Strike had seen her repositioning, and for a moment, she was afraid he was going to turn and look at their target. She gave him a huge smile, capturing his eyes with hers, willing him not to turn.

“Hi,” she said, as naturally as if she were just meeting him to go dancing with. “Don’t turn round,” she whispered. She reached up as if to kiss his cheek, pulling him down to her so she could flick a glance over his shoulder. Redhead was walking on towards the queue.

Strike found himself momentarily pulled into her embrace. Before he could stop himself, he turned his face into her neck, his nose in her hair, inhaling her. A moment, and then she stepped back. She grinned at him. “Sorry,” she said. “She was looking back at you, I wondered if she’d recognised us.”

“That’s all right,” Strike managed, trying to ignore the heat that had swept through him at the scent of her, the silky hair against his cheek. That was stupid, he told himself. You’ll have to be more careful.

Redhead was on her phone again, searching the crowd, trying to find whoever she was meeting. Robin and Strike moved slowly closer. They needed to get into the club too, but they mustn’t stand too close behind her in the queue. Redhead’s gaze swept over them as she searched for her friend, and Robin slipped her hand into Strike’s, leaning in to him and half turning towards him. “She keeps looking at us,” she whispered, as though whispering sweet nothings in his ear. “Think she’s more likely to make the connection, seeing us together?”

Strike was finding it very difficult to concentrate with her mouth so close to his ear. “Don’t know,” he said. “We might have to stop tailing her for a while if we’re starting to look familiar to her.”

Robin sighed, frustrated, and her breath against his cheek almost made him jump. She pulled back and stood with her back to Redhead, close to Strike, her head almost under his chin. She was suddenly very aware of the size of him, of his smoky, spicy scent.

“Sorry to be standing so close,” she said. “I just... it feels like she’s making the connection. Maybe we should abandon tonight.”

“Let’s give it a minute, see who she’s meeting,” Strike said. “We can always move on after that.” He smiled down at her. “And you don’t have to apologise.”

Her heart skipped a little and she smiled back. Strike cast his eyes up and past her, and ducked his head. “Shit, she’s looking right this way,” he said. “I think maybe we will have to leave it.” His face was close to hers, his head bent down a little to avoid making eye contact with their mark. He was so near.

Before Robin could even realise what she was about to do, she kissed him. He didn’t even seem surprised. Suddenly there was a feeling of inevitability to it, that this moment had always been going to end this way. She felt him smile against her mouth as she leaned in to him, and suddenly it all just felt so right. His lips against hers, his arms around her now, his scent filling her senses. His mouth was gentle against hers, in no hurry, his lips moving gently across hers. Her arms crept up and around his neck, pulling him closer.

After a minute he pulled back and they smiled at one another, a little dazed, happy.

“I definitely think we should abandon tonight,” Robin said softly, and Strike hummed in agreement. “How about a drink?” he said. She nodded shyly. He took her hand and they turned and strolled down the street, away from Redhead and the queue.

 

 

 

 


End file.
